"True friendship is not being inseparable, it's being separated and nothing changes."
>Chapter 10<
I slung my backpack strap on my shoulder and walked as quietly as possible in the empty halls.
I forgot to set my alarm this morning so I woke up late so therefore I arrived at school thirty minutes late. That's the negative side of wanting to do things all by myself.
I sighed as I reached my locker and tried to open it as quietly as possible.
"December Hudgens," I heard a commanding voice call. Oh how I hate my name.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before turning around and putting on a fake smile. "Good morning Principal Newman. Fancy seeing you here!" I tried sounding chirpier.
"It's school." He said flatly. "What are you doing in the halls during class hours?"
"Um..." I drew out, looking around frantically for an excuse. "I-I..." Wow, first time I was actually speechless.
"Get in my office now." He demanded me as he wait for me to walk ahead of him. I shrugged in defeat and watched with my head hanging low to Principal Newman's office.
Principal Newman was in his mid thirties. He was actually a really fun principal if you don't do anything bad. If you do, he can be the scariest thing ever. He was tall and had an okay frame. Not too flabby and not too muscly.
I took a seat on one of the cushioned chairs in front of his desk and watched him stand by his desk on the other side.
This was starting to feel like fifty shades of grey. I mentally shivered. That was a scary thought.
"So tell me Ms. Hudgens the real reason why you were roaming the halls. We're you planning on ditching?" He asked, taking his seat while raising his eyebrows.
I eyes widened and I shook my head. "No you got it all wrong Principal Newman. I was late to school because I forgot to set my alarm." I quickly told him, deciding not to lie.
He looked at my face, searching for any sign that I was lying before nodding. "Okay I'll let you off with a warning December. Next time this happens, you get detention."
See? He wasn't that bad.
I gave a smile. "So... Do you mind writing me a pass for all my earlier classes?" I asked hopefully.
He rolled his eyes. "Nah I'll let you get detention from your teachers. That's the reason why I didn't give you detention."
My jaw dropped. "Wow... Sneaky."
Forget what I said. He was that bad.
"I know. Now get to class before you get in even more trouble." He waved me off and began going through the papers on his desk.
I shook my head and walked out the door to Mr. Johnson's class. Once I entered the room, all eyes were on me.
Mr. Johnson stopped his lecture to face me. "Ms. Hudgens. Nice to see you're finally here."
I looked down at my shoes shamefully before glancing back up at him through my eyelashes. "Yeah I came to school late."
"Any reason?" He asked, raising an eyebrow in a perfect arch.
"Just slept in," I didn't want to further embarrass myself by saying I forgot to set my alarm and begin to explain in full detail on why I was late.
"Detention after school," I gave him an are-you-serious look. "Hey, just be glad it's only one day."
He had a point there.
He filled out a slip and gave it to me. I took it and shoved it into my backpack before taking my seat. I faced the front but as soon as Mr. Johnson started lecturing, I tuned him out.
It wasn't that he was boring. It was just the content he was teaching.
Something hit my head which snapped me out of my daze. It was a crumpled piece of paper. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion before opening the paper slowly, trying to make sure I didn't disrupt the class.
Text me.
I looked around the room to make eye contact with Easton. He gave me a nod. So he was the one who gave me the note.
I slowly took out my phone from my pocket and sent Easton a text.
What do you want? -D.
Where were you? -E.
I slept in. Don't you listen? -D.
Oh. You were serious. -E.
No duh. -D.
Pft... Bye. -E.
I rolled my eyes and put my phone away and tuned out everything until the bell rang, signaling that it was lunch time.
###
"Oh my gosh! I'm so excited!" Crystal squealed, jumping up and down in the lunch line.
I furrowed my eyebrows. "Why?"
"I'll tell you and the others at the lunch table. It's definitely good news." She told me, moving ahead in the lunch line.
Once we got our lunch, we returned to our table.
"Crystal's got some news for us," I answered their questioning looks that were thrown at the squealing girl behind me.
"Understandable."
Once we all took a seat, Crystal proceeded to tell us what she was so excited for.
She took out a folded paper out of her pocket and put it in the center of the table. Cat rolled her eyes and unfolded the paper. "Oh my gosh. I didn't even know!" She exclaimed.
Now I was curious.
I took the paper from her. It read:
Fall Dance.
Where: Gym
When: October 20
It was nicely designed. I didn't even remember that the Fall Dance was coming up.
"Oh I already knew about it," Cameron told us, running a hand through his hair randomly.
"Yeah same." Nathan agreed.
"Whatever! Just let us bask in our excitement!" Crystal demanded them.
They both just their hands up in surrender and continued to finish their meals.
"What am I going to wear? So much to do and prepare!" Crystal ranted frantically.
"Calm down," I told her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We'll get through this dilemma together."
She gave me a soft smile and nodded. "I know." She whispered. We just smiled at each other in silence.
"Oh god! Stop being so dramatic," A voice cried. "It's just a dance." Cat rolled her eyes at our dramaticness.
"You just don't have a date," Crystal told her.
Cat's 'don't care' attitude began to crack as she burst into fake tears and face planted into Crystal's shoulder. Crystal patted her head. "You're right. I never get dates! Who wants to date the Asian one?!"
"Everyone. Anybody would be lucky to have you," I comforted her. I threw the boys a look.
"Y-Yeah. Of course. Anybody!" Cameron said quickly before turning to me and smirking. "Nailed it," He mouthed at me.
I shook my head in amusement. I have such weird friends, I swear I'm the only normal one.
###
"Demi," I closed my locker and turned around to be face to face with Nathan.
"Oh hey Nathan," I greeted him cheerfully.
"I have to ask you something," He told me, a nervous look lingering on his face.
I nodded slowly. "Okay...." I was pretty nervous myself.
"I want to ask Cat to the dance. I just wanted to know if that is a good idea and if I should do it." He blurted out, looking down at the ground.
My eyes widened in surprise. Nathan liked Cat? "Yeah of course! You like her?"
Now it was time for his eyes to widened. "W-What? No... I just saw how sad she got today during lunch and I wasn't planning on asking anyone so I wanted to ask her." He explained.
I nodded. That made sense. "Just ask her on the day before the dance. If you ask her now, what if someone who actually likes her asks her? She'll never get her chance then."
He nodded and gave me a small smile. "Thanks Demi."
I returned the smile and threw my arms around him. "This is a proper way to thank me." I smiled up at him.
He shook his head in amusement before wrapping his arms around me in return. "You really are something."
After talking to Nathan some more, I made my way to the parking lot.
Damn. I cursed under my breath. I had no ride home, so I had to walk home. Might as well start now.
I began walking in the direction of my house. I consciously looked around in case anyone was following me but there wasn't. Except for that familiar black Mercedes that drove up to my side. The window rolled down to reveal the face of Easton. "Need a ride?"
I gave him a smile of gratitude and got into his car. "Thanks. You're like my chauffeur." I told him, strapping up my seat beat.
"Yeah. I should really stop doing this," He muttered under his breath and faced forward as he headed to my house.
"Nah. I kinda like this," I told him truthfully.
We sat in silence before Easton decided to break it. "So have you heard about the dance?"
I took a glance at him. "Yeah I have."
He nodded. "Cool."
We went back into silence. I took looked out the window and began to think.
Was he going to ask me to the dance? He said it was cool so was he even going to the dance?
So many unanswered questions that could have answers if I just asked. But of course, I didn't because I didn't have the guts to.
I mentally scoffed at his simple reply.
Cool.
###
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Haha Nathan is getting his swag on. Doo Doo Doo. I don't even know what I'm saying right now. Oh well.